'Just as the Father has sent me, so I send you' Jn 20:21

The Bible is a love story between God and humankind. In various ways, God shows how much he loves us (Isaiah 43:4; Isaiah 49:14–16; Jeremiah 31:3). But God wants all people to be saved (2 Timothy 1:4).

Jesus, sent by God

Out of love for us, God does not let us die in our sin; He sends His Son to save us. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life ’ (John 3:16). To carry out a mission properly, one must understand it. An ambassador is not supposed to forget his task. We are not pleased with our children when they forget family chores.  We want them to be aware of the work we have asked them to do. Sometimes we say to them: ‘When you refuse to do what I ask, you say you’ve forgotten’. Jesus is constantly aware that the Father has sent him: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has sent me…’ (Luke 4:18–22). ‘I have come, O God, to do your will’ (Hebrews 10:5–7). Throughout his preaching to the Jews, Jesus never ceases to make them understand that he is the Father’s envoy. To the apostles he says, ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you’ (John 20:21). 

The disciple is sent by Jesus

‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ (Mt 28:18–20). ‘You will be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8). One does not simply become a Christian to save one’s soul. The Christian is a disciple of Christ, sent by Christ.  God so loved the world that he sent his Son. God loves the world so much that he sends us, that he sends you.

Being faithful to the mission

Have I often realised that I am one sent by Jesus? Do I constantly remind myself of this mission as one who is sent? Does my life reflect that of one sent by Jesus? In the parable of the faithful servant, the master entrusts the servant with the care of his house. In the master’s absence, the servant begins to get drunk and beat the other servants (Mt 24:45–51). This servant forgets that his master has given him a task. He tells himself he has time to do as he pleases and fails to anticipate the master’s imminent return. Doing as one pleases means indulging one’s passions. In today’s world, many Christians forget that they are messengers. Others are not even aware of it. Consequently, their lives are confined to pursuing their worldly goals. Sometimes some of these goals and values may seem good, but because they lie outside the mission of being ‘sent’, and because we are no longer aware of this, these values and goals become evil. ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, for it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye than to have both eyes and be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven blind than to have both eyes and be cast into hell’ (Mt 5:19). God has given us the members of our body. They serve us in our daily lives and in our life with God. When he asks me to get rid of them, it means that anything which might prevent me from fulfilling my mission must be set aside. ‘Whoever does not forsake father, mother, fields, children and even his own life is not worthy of me.’ Sometimes it is even other people—their gazes, their opinions—that lead us to adopt a way of life which makes us forget and neglect the fact that we have been sent.

Consequences of neglecting the mission

God the Father, in His almighty power, had the ability to save us by other means, but He chose to send His Son to be incarnated in the Virgin Mary, to be crucified and to rise again. Let us imagine that the Father had sent the Son and that the Son had refused to preach, to take up the cross, and so on. From this perspective, if He had not fulfilled His mission, what would have become of us? Of course, the Son is one with the Father; He loves the Father and does His will.   The salvation of others also depends on us, and that is why Christ sends us out. Jesus sends you out. What do you say to that? What are you doing with this mission as a baptised Christian? Do not refuse this mission, for Jesus is counting on you.

Henri Bayemi